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URBIO (URban BIOdiversity and Design) is an open worldwide scientific network for education and research with the aim to promote the implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in urban areas. Within the CBD programmes, URBIO is a scientific advisor for the Major Group "Local Authorities" and partner of the "Global Partnership on Local and Subnational Action for Biodiversity".
URBIO upcoming events:
URBIO Australasia conference "Urban Biodiversity and Design in Australasia: research, teaching, and collaboration opportunities East to West", Perth 31 July-2 August 2025
https://urbio2025.tilda.ws/
URBIO Presidium & Advisory Board
The URBIO Presidium is elected by the URBIO Advisory Board every 4 years. The first URBIO President was the URBIO founder, Norbert Müller (University of Applied Sciences, Erfurt, Germany). Norbert chaired the network from 2008 to 2014. During the 4th URBIO conference 2014 in Incheon, Korea, Haripriya Gundimeda (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India) was elected as President of the network, who chaired the network until 2019. In the tradition of the network, the organiser of the latest URBIO conference is designated Secretary General. From November 2014 to September 2019, the URBIO network had three Vice Presidents and Deputy Vice Presidents, each presiding over a main topic of the network and with special tasks within the board. The network also has the Senior Advisors Group. The Advisory Board supports the Presidium in its work. The URBIO Advisory Board usually meets at URBIO conferences and workshops. From 2019 to 2024, Maria Ignatieva (University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia) and Charles Nilon (University of Missouri, USA) were the URBIO Presidents. In 2024, they were elected again, and Diana Dushkova (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig) was nominated as URBIO Secretary General.
Northeast Forestry University
Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology
URBIO Presidents
Presidents are the main representatives of URBIO and hold contact with CBD and the Global Partnership. They are responsible for organizing the whole network, including the URBIO Newsletters, webinars, and conferences.
Currently, Maria Ignatieva and Charles Nilon are the Presidents of the network.
Maria Ignatieva
University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Dr. Maria Ignatieva is a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the School of Design, University of Western Australia. She was working in five countries (Russia, Sweden, the USA, Australia and New Zealnd), teaching as a full-time tenured academic in landscape architecture programs, conducting research in urban ecology (urban biodiversity and design), blue-green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, history of landscape architecture and garden restoration, and implementing research results in practical landscape architecture projects. She is the recipient of the 2024 IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects) President's Award https://www.iflaworld.com/ifla-presidents-award-2024
Personal profile and publications:
https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/00097175
Charles H. Nilon
University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
Dr. Charles Nilon is the William J. Rucker Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri (Emeritus). Charlie's research considers the impact of urbanization on wildlife habitats, human dimensions of natural resources, populations, and communities. Charlie has been a principal investigator on various synthesis projects that are compiling data from more than 150 of the world’s cities. The projects seek to understand global patterns of biodiversity in cities, the filters that shape species composition in cities, and the social and ecological factors that shape patterns of abundance in cities; they then seek to apply that information to management, conservation, and planning programs.
Personal profile and publications:
https://blackstudies.missouri.edu/people/nilon
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6857-0259
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charles-Nilon
URBIO Secretary General
The URBIO Secretary General is helping with the organisation of the URBIO conferences and webinars as well as with the preparation of the URBIO Declarations and Newsletters. Responsible editor for publishing the conference results and editing special journal issues. Holding contact with CBD COP and other organisations.
Diana Dushkova
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
Dr. Diana Dushkova is a Senior Researcher at the Department of Conservation Biology & Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig (Germany), and an Associate Professor at the Agrarian and Technological Institute of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University). Her research focuses on blue-green transformations, co-creation of nature-based solutions with communities for multifunctionality and resilience (actors, models, transformative potential, social innovations), and assessment of ecosystem services provided by blue-green infrastructure.
Personal profile and publications:
https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=48006
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Diana-Dushkova-2
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9651-0715
URBIO Senior Advisors
Advice and support of the presidium
Norbert Müller
University of Applied Sciences Erfurt (Fachhochschule Erfurt), Erfurt, Germany
Dr. Norbert Müller is a Professor of Landscape Management and Restoration Ecology at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt (retired since 2017). His main fields of research and lecturing are conservation biology with a special focus on riparian and urban ecosystems, urban biodiversity, and sustainable design. In 2008, he founded the international network URBIO as an open worldwide scientific network for education and research to promote the implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in urban areas. Norbert was its president from 2008 to 2014.
Personal profile and publications:
https://www.fh-erfurt.de/mueller-norbert
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2543-4046
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Norbert-Mueller-4
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board supports the Presidium in its work. The URBIO Advisory Board usually meets at URBIO conferences, workshops, and webinars, but also during the online meetings organized two times a year.
Haripriya Gundimeda
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
Dr. Haripriya Gundimeda is a Professor at the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Her research interests include energy and environmental economics, climate change, green accounting, and economics of biodiversity. Haripriya was Conference Organiser URBIO 2012, URBIO Secretary General 2012-2014 and then URBIO President 2014-2019.
Personal profile and publications:
https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=fZVpsxMAAAAJ&hl=en
Peter Werner
Institute for Housing and Environment, Darmstadt, Germany
Peter Werner is a Dipl.-Biologist, Senior researcher at the Institute for Housing and Environment, Darmstadt, Germany. Areas of research: urban biodiversity, urban ecology, and sustainable urban development with special knowledge and experience in environmental, nature, and landscape analysis and assessment at various planning levels. Since 2005, Peter Werner has been managing Director of the CONTUREC Urban Ecology Competence Network and is the editor of the related magazine series. He was acting head of the federal state working group on Biotope Mapping in the populated area. Peter was a Conference Co-organizer URBIO 2008.
Personal profile and publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter-Werner-7
https://www.schader-stiftung.de/personen/artikel/peter-werner
Mark E. Hostetler
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Dr. Mark Hostetler is a Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, USA. He is interested in the design and management of "green" communities with a focus on biodiversity conservation. Together with his students and colleagues, he conducts various local, national, and international projects centered around urban biodiversity conservation and the engagement of people. The projects in his lab target the three major decision hierarchies within urban communities: 1) homeowners and the general public, 2) developers and built environment professionals, and 3) planners and policymakers. Projects range from human dimensions to wildlife ecology and conservation.
Personal profile and publications:
https://hostetlerlab.weebly.com/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark-Hostetler
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4it0F34AAAAJ&hl=en
Yuandong Hu
Northeast Forestry University, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, China
Dr. Yuandong Hu is an Associate Professor, doctoral supervisor, and head of the Department of Landscape Architecture of Northeast Forestry University. He is also the Distinguished Professor of "Yanta scholar" of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Vice President of the Institute of Ecological Science and Engineering in arid and semi-arid areas, and Executive Vice-Director of XAUAT-UWA International Joint Laboratory of Urban Biodiversity and Design. Yuandong is the Youth editorial board of academic journals such as Landscape Architecture, China's Urban Forestry, and Landscape Architecture Academic Journal （in Chinese), as well as an international editorial board member of Landscape Architecture in the Globalization Era. His research focuses on urban ecology and ecological design, urban biodiversity and ecosystem services, nature-based solutions, and key technologies for the resilience and restoration of urban ecosystems.
Personal profile and publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Yuandong-Hu-2243001890
Ian MacGregor-Fors
University of Helsinki, Finland
Dr. Ian MacGregor-Fors is a Professor of Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystems at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He developed a passion for birds during adolescence, which led him to study Biology and ultimately earn a Ph.D. from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His research broadly focuses on how wildlife communities—particularly birds—respond to human-driven ecological disturbances, with a strong commitment to bridging knowledge gaps in human-modified systems. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Animal Biodiversity and Conservation and as Associate Editor for Ecology, Urban Ecosystems, and the Journal of Urban Ecology. He firmly believes that evidence-based knowledge integrating physical, ecological, and social components is essential for designing healthier, more livable urban landscapes, provided all stakeholders are actively engaged.
Personal profile and publications:
https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/ian-macgregor-fors
https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=3Lj5BwYAAAAJ&hl=es&oi=ao
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian_Macgregor-Fors
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3198-7322
Basil V. Iannone III
University of Florida, USA
Dr. Basil Iannone is an Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences at the University of Florida. He uses his background in plant community ecology, ecological restoration, and biological invasions to study and implement strategies for increasing the ecological value of designed and constructed ecosystems in urban and residential landscapes with the goal of creating landscapes that benefit both people and nature.
Personal profile and publications:
Dagmar Haase
Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Dr. Dagmar Haase is a Professor in Urban Ecology at the Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and a Guest Scientist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany. Her core expertise is in modelling urban land use change and urban system dynamics, and urban telecouplings. Dagmar’s focus is also on the quantification and assessment of ecosystem services and landscape functions using statistics and earth observation data. Dagmar is the winner of the 2016 AXA Science Award, Honorary Professor of the Swedish Academy of Science, and a member of IRI THESys since 2021. Research Interests: urbanization and urban land change modelling; urban ecosystems, ecosystem services, and green infrastructure; social-ecological systems, system change, and system traits.
Personal profile and publications:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=33U3F6IAAAAJ&hl=en
https://www.geographie.hu-berlin.de/en/Members-en/1683340
Marcus Hedblom
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Dr. Marcus Hedblom is a Professor in Landscape architecture, especially Landscape management at the Department of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Uppsala, Sweden. His background is in urban landscape ecology and nature conservation. In his research and teaching, he is interested in how one can plan, design, and manage urban green areas so that both humans and other species thrive. Especially, he is interested in how to conserve biodiversity in urban settings and how biodiversity effects human health. Thus, his approach is interdisciplinary and linked to urban ecology and landscape architecture. It includes mapping of species, how humans perceive and physically react to different urban green settings, and their management regimes.
Personal profile and publications:
https://www.slu.se/en/ew-cv/marcus-hedblom-phd-researcher-analyst/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marcus-Hedblom
Chundi Chen
Southwest Jiaotong University, China
Dr. Chundi Chen is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Architecture, Southwest Jiaotong University, China. She has a multidisciplinary research background - engineering, science, and philosophy- and explores landscape issues from all these multifaceted perspectives. Research Interests include ecological planning and design, urban ecology, and landscape ecology. Chundi led over 20 research projects supported by the NSFC, MOST (Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs), and the industry. She is an editorial board member for Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. Her work was awarded the Decade of Influence (2010-2019) Paper Prize, the First Prize Science and Technology Award by Shanghai Landscape Architecture Society, as well as the Second Prize of the Huaxia Construction Science and Technology Awards.
Personal profile and publications:
Youngkeun Song
Seoul National University, Republic of South Korea
Dr. Youngkeun Song is a Professor at the Department of Landscape Architecture, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Republic of South Korea. His research focuses on ecological planning, ecological restoration, landscape ecology, biodiversity conservation, GIS, and remote sensing. His Landscape & Ecological Planning Lab is pursuing research and education related to environment and ecology in diverse spatial scales ranging from living space to city and country. The Lab also deals with evidence-based ecological planning (landscape ecology, ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation), advanced ecological data collection technologies (remote sensing, GIS, environmental DNA, etc), ecological structure and its functions (green infrastructure).
Personal profile and publications:
https://gses.snu.ac.kr/en/people/faculty/21
Nam Choon Kim
Dankook University / Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Techniques (KOSERT),
Republic of Korea
Dr. Nam-Choon Kim is a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Environmental Science and Landscape Architecture at Dankook University, South Korea. He was the Director of the Ecological Restoration and Greenery Research Institute and the Former President of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology (KOSERT). Nam-Choon was the Organizing Committee Chair of the 2014 URBIO conference in Incheon city, Korea, and URBIO General Secretary 2014-2016.
His research interests include ecological restoration and revegetation, analysis of functions and factors for the value assessment of ecosystem services, and ecological restoration strategies for the disturbed landscapes.
Personal profile and publications:
Erik M. Wood
California State University, Los Angeles, USA
Dr. Eric Wood is an Associate Professor of the Department of Biological Sciences and Co-Director of the Urban Ecology Center at California State University, Los Angeles. His research focuses on avian ecology, urban biodiversity, landscape change, and socio-ecological systems, with a strong emphasis on conservation outcomes in cities. He has led interdisciplinary projects across urban systems in Southern California and is a key contributor to studies on native plants in residential landscapes, redlining legacies, and bird-habitat relationships. He is an Associate Editor for Proceedings of the Royal Society B. His current work includes cross-continental collaborations on urban biodiversity and developing community-informed conservation frameworks.
Personal profile and publications:
www.ericmwood.org
ORCID: 0000-0003-2787-6451
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sdf_k-YAAAAJ&hl=en
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric-Wood-13?ev=hdr_xprf
Christine Brodsky
University of Missouri, USA
Dr. Christine Rega-Brodsky is an Assistant Professor of Urban Ecology in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. As an urban wildlife ecologist, she integrates wildlife habitat associations, urban resident preferences and perception, and animal behavior to guide the design and management of urban green spaces. By studying bird and mammal communities, she aims to uncover patterns in urban biodiversity across both local and global scales. Christine was the Conference URBIO 2024 organiser.
Personal profile and publications:
https://christinebrodsky.weebly.com/
Myla F. J. Aronson
University of , USA
Dr. Myla Aronson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at Rutgers University and the Director of the Hutcheson Memorial Forest, USA. She co-directs, with Charles Nilon at the University of Missouri-Columbia, UrBioNet: A Global Network for Urban Biodiversity Research and Practice. Myla is an urban ecologist whose interests focus on the conservation, restoration, and maintenance of biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes. She also studies the patterns and ecological, environmental, and social drivers of biodiversity in urban landscapes, in particular to understand community assembly and biotic homogenization in cities at local, regional, and global scales, as well as management and planning for biodiversity in cities. She serves on the scientific advisory committees for NYC Nature Goals 2050, Silicon Valley Urban Greening Panel, Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP) in New York City, and Fire Island National Seashore. Myla was the Conference URBIO 2024 organiser.
Personal profile and publications:
https://sites.rutgers.edu/myla-aronson/lab/myla-aronson/
Shishir Paudel
Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh
Dr. Shishir Paudel is a plant community and invasion ecologist at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and Pittsburgh University, with research interests in how large-scale natural and anthropogenic disturbances and invasions affect communities and ecosystems at different spatial scales. His current projects study sustainable management of urban green spaces for multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, and in particular role of urban meadows vs lawns on providing multiple ecosystem services (e.g. supporting urban biodiversity and soil health). Key Words: native and invasive species, global environmental changes, urban ecosystem, community resilience, ecosystem services, perennial grasslands.
Personal profile and publications:
Sabrina Drill
UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties
Dr. Sabrina Drill is the Urban Natural Resources Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles, USA, and the former Associate Director of California Naturalist. She helps diverse communities get, understand, and co-generate scientific information to restore urban streams and habitats, manage wildland fire and invasive species, and use urban nature to increase both ecological and cultural resilience to extreme weather and climate change. Her research interests include invasive species, biodiversity and biodiversity monitoring, conservation biology (especially wildlife conservation), endangered species, natural resource management and conservation, and biological conservation.
Personal profile and publications:
Myla Aronson
Rutledge, the State University of New Jersey
Patrick J. Bohlen
University of Central Florida, USA
Dr. Patrick J. Bohlen is a Professor of Biology and Director of Arboretum and Natural Resources, University of Central Florida, USA. He is a broadly trained ecologist with an interest in the sustainable management of human-dominated environments to benefit biodiversity, natural ecosystems, and sustainability. In 1998, he became a research biologist and director of the agroecology program at Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida. He led a research program that is now part of the USDA's long-term agricultural research network. His current interests are in ecology and conservation of biodiversity in urban systems, urban agriculture and community gardens, conservation design, sustainable landscaping, and understanding the benefits of biodiversity to environmental and human well-being.
Personal profile and publications:
https://www.patrickbohlen.com/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=evwzuGsAAAAJ&hl=en
Emily Minor
University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Dr. Emily Minor is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Biological Sciences, the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA. She has a wide range of interests related to how humans alter landscapes and the ecological communities within them, as well as the human impact on the world around us. In particular, she studies habitat fragmentation due to urban development, causing "edge effects", which have been shown to alter plant growth and avian breeding success, among other things. Also, she explores novel habitats created by humans, such as yards, that are used by many species in different ways, with particular focus on how these and other factors interact to affect ecological communities and processes at the landscape scale. Recent projects include examining the provision of ecosystem services to urban residents and studying plant, bird, and bee communities in residential neighborhoods, as well as the socio-ecological dynamics of residential and community gardens, and finding ways to make cities a good habitat for both humans and wildlife.
Personal profile and publications:
https://bios.uic.edu/profiles/minor-emily/
IUCN Representative
cooming soon...